Pryor substitute arrested for showing porn on classroom smart board

PRYOR, Okla. (KTUL) -- A substitute teacher in Pryor was jailed Thursday after students say he showed pornography on a smart board in the classroom.

John Autry was arrested for child neglect.

"That should not happen in our schools and that teacher should have known not to," mother of three Louise Detweiler said.

According to Autry's arrest affidavit, a Junior High School student told police she was in class just after 2 p.m. Thursday and heard the other students laughing. When she looked up she saw a penis on the smart board screen.

The student told officers it looked liked still shots from a movie and the arrow was scrolling through the images.

A counselor had already removed Autry from the classroom by the time police arrived. During his initial interview, the affidavit says Autry admitted to looking at pornography off and on throughout the day.

Police say Autry said he gets sexually excited while watching porn in front of the students but he did not mean for the porn to be on the smart board or for the students to see it.

That doesn't justify the incident for parents or the school.

"They need to have stricter background checks and they need to have better security on the computers where not even a teacher can look these things up," mother of two Laura Ingram said.

Superintendent Don Raleigh says Autry has been a substitute and teacher for 25 years.

"He had a background check not only with us but also with the employment agency," Raleigh said. "Both of us had vetted him." "As far as that process, we never had any illusions that there was an issue."

Raleigh says they have heavy security software so kids can't access things like porn sites. Teachers shouldn't be able to access porn on their computers either but he thinks this was found through a blog.

Autry said he didn't realize students saw it until they began giggling.

Some students left the room immediately. Of the 23 students in the classroom, ages 12 to 14, 21 students saw the porn.

"You have the students doing a great job of leadership and really getting better and doing the things they need to do and then having an adult fail you like that and violates the trust of our students and our staff, yeah that is frustrating," Raleigh said.

Autry wrote an apology letter in front of police. It read: "I am sorry for what has happened." He signed it, "Mr. Autry."

Autry was booked into the Mayes County Jail where he's being held on a $100,000 bond.